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08/30/2004: "The Art of Today"

First of all I would like to thank the readers for getting involved with their invaluable comments and congratulate fellow bloggers and absolutearts.com on creating this dynamic forum.

So, what's new in Melbourne? As expected, the town is bursting at the seams with all sorts of activities, including sporty ones. For example, an exhibition "The spirit of football" (www.ngv.vic.gov.au ) - an attempt of the NGV to marry art and sport while bringing in some fiery passion into the gallery, spreading it among the visitors in order to increase the numbers.



A blockbuster that comes close second to the sport loving public in generating numbers - "The Impressionists: Masterpieces from the Musee d'Orsay" ( www.paris.org/Musees/Orsay/ ) currently at the above mentioned NGV (The National Gallery of Victoria). The event is drawing in the crowds at the rate of a football match. It had 100.00 visitors, the target being nothing less than 250.00 (source: www.theage.com.au ).

There are other exciting things happening in Melbourne. Few days ago a hard copy of IDAA (International Digital Art Awards, www.internationaldigitalart.com) exhibition opened at the VCA (Victorian College of Art) Gallery, www.VCA.unimelb.edu.au). No need to check attendance there - the online part will show real hits. Besides, the point I am trying to make is not about the numbers but what we do with them. Interestingly enough both exhibitions are located just a short stroll from each other. It's only handy to compare the two.

We have heard of Impressionists, haven't we? Their work has been declared valuable, innovative, modern and all rounder great by the experts. It took "only" more than one hundred years for the public to start appreciating their work en masse. There is enough proof of their greatness available - it is safe to admire them and as a bonus we get to see rebellious, individual, innovative works of art.

Now, this topic brings me to the matter of digital art. The Impressionists were innovators in their time. They were what the digital, new media, webism artists are today. They used technologies and tools not applied in art before, they viewed world from the perspective of the modern man of the times. That included using daguerreotypes, areal photos, new ways of mixing or rather refusing to mix colour and not the least, new ways of presenting their work. And finally, they addressed their art to the modern public which very lives they depicted.

Digital artists of our day experience sense of freedom of expression. This empowering and exciting sensation is not dissimilar to the feeling artists had many years ago while using print plates and oil based paints for the first time, or not so long ago - making use of steel, polymers, photography and video. Mastering new available tools eliminates mundane components of the creative process and putting aesthetical and philosophical spin on the new ways of expressing issues of today results in fresh, exciting and contemporary work. New skills not only enrich forms of art we know, they create new ones.




The public of today is more comfortable with new artistic expressions. There is wider support base for modern innovative art than it was one hundred years ago. However we have not reached the time yet when digital art is a daily occurrence in all galleries - commercial and public, at auctions as well as in the house of a collector or the neighbour next door. So, the question is - how far from each other are artist and society? This important question deserves an answer or at least a search for one. Is the modern art kept away from the public for the fear of being not the right one to become the great one? Sometimes there is need for a certain amount of detective skills to experience innovative art. Luckily, the Web brought major changes to the scene and things are improving nicely. We don't have physically drag ourselves out in order to see art of today: the one that talks about us and our society in the language we understand.




Ausra Larbey